Luminous infrared galaxies with the submillimeter array: probing the extremes of star formation

Luminous and Ultraluminous infrared galaxies (ULIRGs) contain the most intense regions of star formation in the local universe. Because molecular gas is the fuel for current and future star formation, the physical properties and distribution of the warm, dense molecular gas are key components for understanding the processes and timescales controlling star formation in these merger and merger remnant galaxies. We present new results from a legacy project on the Submillimeter Array which is producing high resolution images of a representative sample of galaxies with log L _FIR >11.4 and D<200 Mpc.     

Star formation in southern Seyfert galaxies

We have produced radio maps, using the Australia Telescope Compact Array, of the central regions of six southern type 2 Seyfert galaxies (NGC 1365, 4945, 6221, 6810, 7582 and Circinus) with circumnuclear star formation, to estimate the relative contribution of star formation activity compared to activity from the active galactic nucleus (AGN). The radio morphologies range from extended diffuse structures to compact nuclear emission, with no evidence, even in the relatively compact sources, for synchrotron self-absorption. In each case the radio to far-infrared (FIR) ratio has a value consistent with star formation, and in all but one case the radio to [Fe  II ] ratio is also consistent with star formation. We derive supernova rates and conclude that, despite the presence of a Seyfert nucleus in these galaxies, the radio, FIR and [Fe  II ] line emissions are dominated by processes associated with the circumnuclear star formation (i.e. supernova remnants and H  II regions) rather than with the AGN.     

The surface brightness of IRAS galaxies

Using IRAS measurements, we find positive correlations between both the infrared to optical flux ratio (L _FIR/L _B) and infrared colour temperature (L ₆₀/L ₁₀₀) with optical surface brightness. These correlations can be understood by high surface brightness galaxies having (i) a high star formation rate, or (ii) a high-space density of stars and dust.In an attempt to interpret (ii) above, we have produced radiative transfer models for the dust absorption in a galactic disc. These models indicate that the highest surface brightness galaxies may be the most dust obscured (i.e., optically thick) and that the total luminosity (and, hence, mass) of these galaxies may be considerably underestimated.     

Broad-Band Radio to X-Ray Properties of Seyfert Galaxies

We report on the statistical analysis of a sample of AGNs (Seyferts and LINERs) selected from an RBSC-NVSS sample of the brightest X-ray sources. The sample is large enough and unbiased for a detailed study of multi-frequency (radio to X-ray) properties of AGN. There are no significant differences in X-ray, optical, far-infrared, and radio powers, core dominance, radio loudness, radio spectral index, and two-point radio-to-optical and optical-to-X-ray spectral indices of Seyfert types 1 and 2. These findings strongly support the unification model, and the observed differences between Sy1 and Sy2 are due to both the variable obscuration and different geometric orientation effects. The correlation between the X-ray and radio emission over many decades is primary and indicates the intrinsically similar origin of both radiations in Seyfert galaxies, powered mainly by AGN, rather than compact starbursts. For Seyfert galaxies we found that the slopes of the relations L _X - L _R and L _X - L _B are flat, which indicate the existence of components unrelated with X-ray. Perhaps only for LINERs is the observed L _X - L _R relation completely due to AGNs. The Sy1, Sy2, and LINER galaxies show different slopes in the relation L _X - L _1.4, and the relative contribution of extended radio components may be the cause of these differences. The possible effects of unresolved extended radio and X-ray components are quantitatively discussed.     

Studying the first galaxies with ALMA

We discuss observations of the first galaxies, within cosmic reionization, at centimeter and millimeter wavelengths. We present a summary of current observations of the host galaxies of the most distant QSOs (z∼6). These observations reveal the gas, dust, and star formation in the host galaxies on kpc-scales. These data imply an enriched ISM in the QSO host galaxies within 1 Gyr of the big bang, and are consistent with models of coeval supermassive black hole and spheroidal galaxy formation in major mergers at high redshift. Current instruments are limited to studying truly pathologic objects at these redshifts, meaning hyper-luminous infrared galaxies (L _FIR ∼10¹³ L _⊙). ALMA will provide the one to two orders of magnitude improvement in millimeter astronomy required to study normal star forming galaxies (i.e. Ly-α emitters) at z∼6. ALMA will reveal, at sub-kpc spatial resolution, the thermal gas and dust—the fundamental fuel for star formation—in galaxies into cosmic reionization.     

Megamaser galaxies

An analysis of a sample of OH megamaser galaxies is presented. It is shown that the dependence of L_OH on L_FIR (far infrared) is not quadratic, as previously assumed, but closer to linear. In megamaser galaxies, L_C (radio continuum) L_FIR1. Analysis of the data also shows that as the OH emission line width decreases, the absolute values of the pumping efficiency and maser amplification coefficient increase. The radio luminosity of the central component in these galaxies increases with a decrease in the ratio L_FIR/L_C, whereas the FIR luminosity remains constant. These results will, in all probability, force a reexamination of the questions of pumping and maser emission mechanisms in megamaser galaxies.Translated fromAstrofizika, Vol. 39, No. 3, pp. 417–429, July–September, 1996.     

Active Galactic Nuclei

The term Active Galactic Nuclei includes QSOs (Quasi-Stellar Objects), Seyfert galaxies, BL Lac objects and nuclei showing unusual amounts of star formation. South African work has centred on the photometric properties of these objects, both in the optical(UBVRI) and the infrared(JHKL). Photometry has been used to investigate the nature of the relevant emission mechanisms by studying both the colours of the nuclear components and their variations. In particular, it has been demonstrated convincingly that circumnuclear dust shells are present in several Seyfert 1 galaxies at temperatures of around 1500 K.It has also been shown that the variable component in many Seyfert 1 galaxies retains a constant spectral shape independent of its actual flux at a given time. Further, there is evidence that this shape is largely the same in all Seyfert 1 galaxies. Other studies have concentrated on surveys of morphological, spectroscopic and photometric characteristics of certain classes of galaxies such as those found by the IRAS satellite and those listed in the Arp-Madore catalogue of interacting galaxies.     

Star formation rate in starburst galaxies

The statistical investigation of integrated characteristics of the blue compact galaxies from the Second Byurakan survey has been carried out. The tight correlation between the luminosities in the far-infrared range and radio range (radio-continuum at 21 cm) has been revealed. It implies the common origin of this radiation in star forming regions. The current star formation rates have been derived both from the luminosity in the far-infrared range (SFR_FIR) and from the luminosity in the radio range (SFR_{21 cm}). The Salpeter shape of the initial mass function (IMF) and low-mass cut-off of 0.1 M_⊙ in IMF has been assumed for the SFR_FIR calculation. We derive the SFR_{21 cm} assuming that radio free–free emission at λ=21 cm is thermal emission of gas ionised by massive stars. The SFR_{21 cm} is shown to be about 3.5 times as large as SFR_FIR for our sample of galaxies. These star formation rates are proposed to be considered as lower and upper limits of true galaxy star formation rates.     

Circumnuclear regions in barred spiral galaxies – I. Near-infrared imaging

We present subarcsecond-resolution, ground-based, near-infrared images of the central regions of a sample of 12 barred galaxies with circumnuclear star formation activity, which is organized in ring-like regions typically 1 kpc in diameter. We also present Hubble Space Telescope near-infrared images of 10 of our sample galaxies, and compare them with our ground-based data. Although our sample galaxies were selected for the presence of circumnuclear star formation activity, our broad-band near-infrared images are heterogeneous, showing a substantial amount of small-scale structure in some galaxies, and practically none in others. We argue that, where it exists, this structure is caused by young stars, which also cause the characteristic bumps or changes in slope in the radial profiles of ellipticity, major axis position angle, surface brightness and colour at the radius of the circumnuclear ring in most of our sample galaxies. In seven out of 10 HST images, star formation in the nuclear ring is clearly visible as a large number of small emitting regions, organized into spiral arm fragments, which are accompanied by dust lanes. Near-infrared colour index maps show much more clearly the location of dust lanes and, in certain cases, regions of star formation than single broad-band images. Circumnuclear spiral structure thus outlined appears to be common in barred spiral galaxies with circumnuclear star formation.     

Comparison of Star Formation Rate Estimates from Hα, FIR and Radio Data

We use three indicators of massive star formation, H_α, FIR and non-thermal radio luminosities, to compare estimates of the star formation rate (SFR) for a sample of 34 spiral galaxies. To adjust the SFR values obtained from these indicators, we considered the slope, α, and/or the upper mass limit M _up of the initial mass function (IMF) as free parameters. The best agreement between the indicators is found for M _up≈ 60-100 M⊙ and α ≈–3.1 at the high-mass end of the IMF (M>10 M⊙.Parallelwith the SFR we also estimated the FIR excess X _FIR, defined as the fraction of the observed FIR not directly related to young massive stars. X _FIR is found to be well correlated with types of spiral galaxies and their colours (B-V): the redder a galaxy, the higher its FIR excess. We conclude that for any parameters of the IMF the observed FIR flux of early-type spiral galaxies needs an additional source of energy apart from massive star radiation. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Star formation and AGN

We analyse the data from narrow band H and [O III] CCD imaging of a sample of nearby spiral galaxies with active nuclei. The results show that the large scale star formation depends on the level of nuclear activity, with Seyfert 2 presenting the strongest disk and circum-nuclear star formation, while Seyfert 1 show very little. We present particular results for the galaxies NGC 3982, NGC 4579, NGC 5427 and NGC 7469.     

Infrared and radio features of galaxies with UV excess

This is a statistical study of galaxies with a UV excess. A sample of 702 Kazarian galaxies (KG) is used. The KGs are identified with objects from the MAPS, IRAS FSC, IRAS PSC, and NVSS catalogs. The O and E magnitudes are known for more than 92% of the KGs. It is shown that the KG sample is complete up to 16m.0 in the blue and to 16m.5 in the red. More than 36% of the KGs are identified with infrared (IR) sources at wavelengths of 12, 25, 60, and 100 m. Calculations of the far IR (FIR) luminosities show that 4% of the KGs are strong FIR emitters (L_FIR ≥ 10¹¹ L_⊙). More than 32% of the KGs have been identified as radio sources at a frequency of 1.4 GHz. A determination of the radio luminosities shows that the sample of KGs with known radial velocities include one powerful, L_R ≥ 10²⁵ W/Hz, radio object (Kaz 273) which is a BL Lac object. A close correlation (r=0.93) is bound between the FIR and radio luminosities for galaxies with a UV excess. An examination of the relationship between the FIR and radio luminosities for galaxies in different spectral classes shows that the correlation coefficient is higher (r=0.99) and the slope of the fit curve is larger (a=1.18) for Seyfert galaxies. Calculations of the logarithm of the ratio of the FIR and radio fluxes indicate that the sample includes 4 KGs with a radio excess, while there are none with an IR excess. __________ Translated from Astrofizika, Vol. 50, No. 3, pp. 369–379 (August 2007).     

Hα Emission and Dynamics in Groups of Galaxies

H_α luminosities of a sample of galaxies in nearby compactgroups are presented. Our purpose is to study the influence of thegroup environment on the star formation rates (SFRs) of the galaxies in thegroups, provided that the H_α luminosity is a good tracer of theSFR of disc galaxies. Measuring the global L /L _B of the groups – including early-type galaxies – we find that the average value of the H_α emission is not significantly different from thatmeasured for field galaxies, and that most of the groups that show thehighest level of L /L _B, with respect to a set of synthetic groups built out of field galaxies, show tidal features in at least one of their members. Finally, we have exploredthe relationship between the ratio L /L _B and severalrelevant dynamical parameters of the groups (velocity dispersion, crossingtime, radius and mass-to-luminosity ratio) and have found no clearcorrelation. This suggests that the exact dynamical state of a groupdoes not appear to control the SFR of the group as a whole. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Optical identifications of 230 HIPASS radio sources

We present the coordinates, apparent magnitudes, and morphological types for 230 galaxies presumably identified with HIPASS (HI Parkes All-Sky Survey) sources. The new optical counterparts of the HIPASS sources follow the well-known statistical relationships between the hydrogen mass, luminosity, and type of galaxies. Low-surface-brightness galaxies constitute a significant fraction among these objects. The median value of the hydrogen mass-to-luminosity ratio for them is a factor of 2 or 3 higher than that for bright HIPASS galaxies, reaching 1.7M _⊙/L _⊙. A number of our objects are located near the boundary log(M _HI/L _B ) = 0.2(M _B + 20) that defines the zone of gravitational stability of disk galaxies against large-scale star formation.     

On core-collapse supernovae in normal and in Seyfert galaxies

This paper estimates the relative frequency of different types of core-collapse supernovae, in terms of the ratio between the number of Type Ib–Ic and of Type II supernovae. We estimate independently for all normal and Seyfert galaxies whose radial velocity is ≤14 000 km s⁻¹, and which had at least one supernova event recorded in the Asiago catalogue from 1986 January to 2000 August. We find that the ratio is  ≈0.23±0.05  in normal galaxies. This value is consistent with constant star formation rate and with a Salpeter initial mass function and an average binary rate ≈50 per cent. On the contrary, Seyfert galaxies exceed the ratio in normal galaxies by a factor ≈4 at a confidence level ≳2 σ . A caveat is that the numbers for Seyferts are still small (six of Type Ib–Ic and six of Type II supernovae discovered as yet). Assumed to be real, this excess of Type Ib/c supernovae may indicate a burst of low-age star formation  ( τ ≲20 Myr)  , a high incidence of binary systems in the inner regions  ( r ≲0.4 R ₂₅)  of Seyfert galaxies, or a top-loaded mass function.     

The X-ray spectra of optically selected Seyfert 2 galaxies: are there any Seyfert 2 galaxies with no absorption?

We present an X-ray spectral analysis of a sample of eight bona fide Seyfert 2 galaxies, selected on the basis of their high [O  iii ] λ 5007 flux, from the Ho et al. spectroscopic sample of nearby galaxies. We find that, in general, the X-ray spectra of our Seyfert 2 galaxies are complex, with some of our objects having spectra different from the 'typical' spectrum of X-ray selected Seyfert 2 galaxies. Two (NGC 3147 and 4698) show no evidence for intrinsic absorption. We suggest that this is a result of the fact that when the torus suppresses the intrinsic medium and hard energy flux, underlying emission from the host galaxy, originating in circumnuclear starbursts, and scattering from warm absorbers contributes in these energy bands more significantly. Our ASCA data alone cannot discriminate whether low-absorption objects are Compton-thick active galactic nuclei (AGNs) with a strong scattered component or lack an obscuring torus. The most striking example of our low absorption Seyfert 2 is NGC 4698. Its spectrum could be explained by either a dusty warm absorber or a lack of broad-line clouds so that its appearance as a Seyfert 2 is intrinsic and not a result of absorption.     

Blue Compact Galaxies at Redshifts Z=0.2-1.3

We study the nature of faint blue compact galaxies (BCGs) at redshifts z ∼ 0.2 - 1.3 using Keck and HST. Despite being very luminous (L_B ∼ L^*), most distant BCGs have masses M ∼ 10¹⁰M_⊙, i.e., they are dwarf stellar systems. The majority of these galaxies have colors, sizes, surface brightnesses, luminosities, velocity widths, excitations, star formation rates (SFR), and mass-to-light ratios characteristic of the most luminous nearby HII galaxies. The more massive BCGs form a more heterogeneous class of evolved starburst, similar to local disk starburst galaxies. Without additional star formation, HII-like BCGs will most likely fade to resemble today's spheroidal galaxies such as NGC 205. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Hα and UV luminosities and star formation rates in a large sample of luminous compact galaxies

We present the results of a statistical study of the star formation rates (SFR) derived from the Galaxy Evolution Explorer (GALEX) observations in the ultraviolet continuum and in the Hα emission line for a sample of about 800 luminous compact galaxies (LCGs). Galaxies in this sample have a compact structure and include one or several regions of active star formation. Global galaxy characteristics (metallicity, luminosity, stellar mass) are intermediate between ones of the nearby blue compact dwarf (BCD) galaxies and Lyman-break galaxies (LBGs) at high redshifts z>2–3. SFRs were corrected for interstellar extinction which was derived from the optical Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) spectra. We find that SFRs derived from the galaxy luminosities in the far ultraviolet (FUV) and near ultraviolet (NUV) ranges vary in a wide range from 0.18 M _⊙?yr^?1 to 113 M _⊙?yr^?1 with median values of 3.8 M _⊙?yr^?1 and 5.2 M _⊙?yr^?1, respectively. Simple regression relations are found for luminosities L(Hα) and L(UV) as functions of the mass of the young stellar population, the starburst age, and the galaxy metallicity. We consider the evolution of L(Hα), L(FUV) and L(NUV) with a starburst age and introduce new characteristics of star formation, namely the initial Hα, FUV and NUV luminosities at zero starburst age.     

Redshift distribution in extragalactic objects and evolution of galaxies

In order to see whether the study of redshift distribution in different classes of extragalactic objects, suspected of belonging to different phases in the evolutionary sequence of galaxies, helps in arriving at a possible picture of the evolutionary sequence of galaxies, histograms have been plotted between the number and the redshift for each of the five classes of extragalactic objects, namely, the QSOs, N-galaxies, Seyfert galaxies, radio galaxies and normal galaxies. It is found that: (i) the highest peaks in the five histograms occur at distinctly different redshifts in the order (Z _peak)_QSOs>(Z _peak)_N-galaxies>(Z _peak)_{Seyfert galaxies}>(Z _peak)_{radio galaxies}> (Z _peak)_{normal galaxies} and (ii) sufficient overlap occurs in the redshift ranges of (a) QSOs and N-galaxies, (b) N-galaxies and Seyfert galaxies, (c) Seyfert galaxies and radio galaxies and (d) radio galaxies and normal galaxies. These facts suggest that the extragalactic objects might be evolving in the sequence: QSOsN-galaxiesSeyfert galaxiesradio galaxiesnormal galaxies. Other independent evidences in support of such an evolutionary sequence have been given. Finally, various aspects of the problem associated with the picture of the evolutionary sequence of galaxies have been critically examined.     

Near-Infrared Spectral Mapping of NGC 1614

We present the spatial distribution of the bright near-infrared emission lines, Br, H₂, He I, [Fe II], and the CO band longwards of 2.3 m, for the luminous infrared galaxy NGC 1614. The morphology of the ionised gas is different from that of the stellar light, and possibly forms a circumnuclear ring. Our data imply that the stellar population is older and the extinction is lower in the nucleus relative to the surrounding circumnuclear ring. We suggest that NGC 1614 is a galaxy whose recent interaction triggered massive star formation in the nucleus, which in turn caused a radially outward progression of star formation thereby producing the circumnuclear ring we observe today. There is no evidence for a buried AGN, and it is difficult to reconcile our data with the simple evolutionary model of ultraluminous galaxies proposed by Sanders et al (1988).